UP votes peacefully, 26% turnout till 2 pm

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is among the voters in the first phase of polling in 62 constituencies.

About 26 per cent of voters on Saturday exercised their franchise till 2 pm in the polling for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere during this period which witnessed about 26 per cent of polling, election officials said.

Sixty-two constituencies spread across 13 districts are going to polls on Saturday which would decide the fate of 839 contestants, including Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Yadav cast his vote at Saifai, his ancestral village, as also his brother and state PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, MP, the son of the chief minister. Shivpal Yadav is trying his luck from Jaswantnagar constituency.

There are over 1.61 crore voters for Saturday's polling.

The maximum number of candidates of 28 were in the fray at Agra Cantt seat while there were only four contestants at Mauranipur assembly seat in Jhansi district.

Over 18,000 electronic voting machines are being used for the polling.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure free and fair elections with central paramilitary forces being deployed at every polling centre.